Only in space can the size of a bus be considered small and 186,000 miles be considered small, but NASA does not take its asteroid watch lightly.
According to Space.com, an asteroid dubbed 2014 HL 129 passed Earth at a closer distance than at which the moon orbits. NASA's Asteroid Watch Program, based in the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., estimated the space rock was 25 feet wide, but did not threaten the Earth.
CLICK HERE to watch an animation of the near-Earth asteroid.
NASA spotted 2014 HL 129 Wednesday, April 28 and it came closest to the Earth at approximately 4:13 a.m. on Saturday, May 3. Since an asteroid more than twice the size of this one hit Russia in Feb. 2013, NASA has increased its efforts to track near-Earth objects that could pose a threat.
After the 65-foot-wide asteroid broke apart over the Russian city of Chelyabinsk, NASA opened an "Asteroid Grand Challenge." The project was geared to gather ideas from all over on how to track near-Earth objects and protect the planet from them, the San Jose Mercury News reported.
NASA said they believe they have only identified one percent of the millions of asteroids floating near the Earth. The one that entered the atmosphere over Russia broke apart and sent its pieces through windows, windshields and rained down over the city.
"Good ideas can come from anywhere," Ben Burress, staff astronomer at Oakland's Chabot Space & Science Center, told the SJMN. "There are millions of asteroids we don't know about, so the idea of more information really is better. Are we going to be hit? Yes. The question is, when and by how big of an asteroid?"
NASA recently wrapped the third round of competition with 422 submissions from 63 countries for hidden asteroid detection algorithms. At stake is $35,000, which NASA plans to give to the owner of the winning algorithm.
"This is a big global problem that needs everybody to solve," Sarah Ramsey, a spokeswoman for NASA, told the SJMN. "We can't do it alone. That's the whole point of the grand challenge."
